The present invention relates to mops, and more particularly to wringable mops.
The wringable mop has gained widespread popularity due to the fact that it greatly facilitates the task of mopping a floor. These wringable mops typically include a mop handle, a sponge fixedly mounted to the mop handle, and a wringer element movable relative the sponge to wring liquid out of the spronge. Typically, a wringer handle is included, which, when actuated, causes the wringer element to move relative the sponge. Consequently, the entire sponge may be wrung by simply and easily moving a single wringer handle.
Often, a wringable mop includes a ferrule to which a mop handle may be secured, a mounting plate formed integrally with the ferrule, a clamping plate, and means for drawing the clamping and mounting plates together to clamp the sponge assembly therebetween and thereby secure the sponge assembly on the end of the mop handle. The sponge assembly typically includes a sponge retained in a channel, and the channel is the part of the sponge assembly which is clamped between the clamping and mounting plates. However, prior connections between the clamping and abutment plates have not been wholly satisfactory. Because this connection must be extremely rigid when tightened, prior connections are often relatively complex, requiring several bolts and several hinge points to provide the desired rigidity. However, these complex connections are relatively expensive and difficult to assemble. On the other hand, other prior connections are less expensive and less complicated but do not provide the desired structural characteristics.
Second, no provision is typically provided for preventing the sponge from shifting laterally with respect to the mop handle. Consequently, when the mop is in use, the sponge may shift within the mop head so that the sponge is not completely wrung by the wringer. To reduce lateral movement of the sponge, one prior mop includes a clamp surface cut into the upper rear edge of a sponge-retaining channel, which channel is clamped between the clamping and mounting plates. The lower extremity of the mounting plate is positioned against the clamp surface. This does not appear to be a particularly sturdy arrangement, in that the channel would appear to have a tendency to pivot about the extremity of the mounting plate.
A typical wringer element for a wringable mop includes two parallel wringer members disposed on opposite sides of the sponge to compress the sponge when actuated, a bridge interconnecting the wringer members, and a wringer handle pivotally connected to both the ferrule and the bridge which when actuated causes the bridge to operate the wringer members. However, prior mops have required relatively complex, multipiece pivotal connections between the wringer handle and the bridge.